Want people to like you more? Nod at them, say scientists

A polite nod of the head can make a person almost a third more likeable, say scientists.

And the gentle gestures increases their approachability by almost half, a study shows.

The discovery comes three weeks after President Donald Trump successfully mastered the traditional Japanese greeting when he met Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

Eight years earlier his predecessor Barack Obama was jibed at for bowing too deeply.

Now a study published in Perception has shown getting it right improves the likeability of people by about 30 percent and their approachability by 40 percent.

This was compared to figures that shook their heads or stayed motionless and the results were similar for both male and female observers.

The findings shed fresh light on manners and hospitality and could influence the creation of 'avatars' or characters in computer games and even humanoid robots.

The same team previously demonstrated the bowing motion of the computer-generated, three-dimensional characters enhanced their perceived attractiveness.

This time they carried out experiments to rate how simple nodding and head shaking affected perceived impressions of personality.

Short video clips of the figures nodding, shaking their head or staying motionless were shown to 49 men and women aged 18 or over.

The Japanese participants then rated their attractiveness, likeability and approachability on a scale of 0 to 100.

Professor Jun-ichiro Kawahara, of Hokkaido University in Sapporo, said: "Our study also demonstrated nodding primarily increased likeability attributable to personality traits, rather than to physical appearance,"

He said head shaking had no effect on the ratings for likeability and approachability.

In many countries nodding is a communicative signal meaning approval and head shaking denial.

Prof Kawahara said: "The results showed the nodding head motion significantly increased ratings of subjective likability and approachability relative to those of the shaking or control conditions, whereas the shaking motion did not influence the ratings.

"Furthermore it was shown a nodding head motion of the computer-generated models primarily increased likeability attributable to personality traits rather than to physical appearance.